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Is black sand rare?

Black beaches are so rare because they're only formed under very specific conditions. Essentially, when hot lava is rapidly cooled by the ocean, basalt rock is formed and shattered into tiny pieces and black sand.



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These beaches are rare, but certainly not impossible to reach. Ratchet your ocean vacation and Instagram game up a notch by visiting one of these 17 beaches made of black sand.

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Olivine Sand Olivine is an igneous mineral formed from the crystallization of magma. At Papakolea, the olivine erodes out of an ancient volcanic cinder cone that encloses the semi-circular beach. Sand of almost exclusively olivine grains is very rare, and Papakolea is one of only four green sand beaches in the world.

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